Jan Marsh

DAY FORTY-SEVEN A day with even one appointment is a busy day. Today I have two! My video-call music lesson goes well and I have some things to work on. I was hoping to return to in-person lessons but the teacher isn't ready for that, even if we

DAY FORTY-SIX Mothers' Day, 10th May. I'm awake early so I make a cup of tea and tackle the plain brown carton that's been on the table since the courier came on Wednesday. I snip away the tape and inside there's a beautiful

DAY FORTY-FIVE I've had some calls and messages checking that I'm ok – and I am, for sure, but thank you! The thing with blogging is treading a line between being honest and not worrying people. Also not being too much of an annoying Pollyanna! Today is

DAY FORTY-THREE Services are resuming. This afternoon I will have the lawn mowed and the piano tuned. But first, a morning of knitting and radio and, a little startling, my friend calls to say she has 'been swabbed'. Her sore throat had her worried and even though she&

DAY FORTY-FOUR After days of rain and cold weather, today is brilliantly sunny. Yesterday's headache has lingered. I'm tired and a bit under the weather, in spite of the weather. It's a feeling which becomes magnified in these times, even though I know there&

DAY FORTY-ONE Another cold wet day, colder than ever in fact - a high of 11 degrees barely qualifies as high! I take advantage of a mid-morning break in the weather to go for a run, heading off towards the marina which is the shortest of my three routes and

DAY TWENTY-NINE The morning is fine and invites me into the garden to finish off some tasks from yesterday. I pot a few succulents and tidy up a little more. I cut big handfuls of mint and lemon balm and dry it in the microwave in batches to make a

DAY THIRTY-FOUR Or is it Day One of Level Three? I think I'll stick to the numbering above because for me it will be much the same. I drive into town about 9.30 for shopping, although I don't need much. I'm still looking

DAY FORTY-TWO Another meaningful number – the answer to life, the universe and everything. Thank you, Douglas Adams, it's a good reminder not to take ourselves too seriously. And it's a bright, crisp day. After my usual start, I walk down to the cafe on the waterfront

DAY FORTY Did you know that the original meaning of quarantine is a 40 day period imposed to prevent illness, such as when a ship came to port with ill people on board? Jim Crace's novel Quarantine uses the idea to explain the 40 days and 40 nights

DAY THIRTY-NINE Another indoor day with heavy rain coming over in squalls, and lots of knitting. Our Quaker meeting is attended by our Clerk who has been occupied over the past few weeks getting in his organic apple harvest, with the added complications of Covid-19 restrictions. He comments later that

DAY THIRTY-EIGHT Here's the real test – a grey day, starting with low cloud, moving on with showers and ending with heavy rain – and three more days of this are forecast. I know it's needed in Auckland and Northland, I hope it goes there soon! I spend

DAY THIRTY-SEVEN 1sr May: a shout out to the workers who are back at work and those who wish they were. The day dawns with a clear golden sky which gradually fills with red-grey clouds. I know this because at 6am my cat, Po, bangs on the front door to

DAY THIRTY-SIX Thursday 31st April. Often at the end of a month we say, 'Where did it go?' We all know where April went and some of us have very tidy cupboards, gardens, paintwork to show for it. Some of us have also had a rest from our

DAY THIRTY-FIVE The day dawns with a red sunrise but there's no rain on the way, so don't worry, you shepherds! It quickly becomes another crisp sunny morning. I take some photos of my windowsill collection of soft toys – I've switched them around from

DAY THIRTY-THREE The last day of Level 4. After medititation I set up for my music lesson. It's the beginning of Term 2, in the old notation – it's a bit hazy just what a school term is right now. The children of essential workers can go

DAY THIRTY-TWO After our Zoom Quaker meeting, which includes ten Friends, I make a phone call to catch up with a friend and I stand in the sun while we talk about our week. Then I set off in search of a Sunday paper. At the bottom of the zig-zag

DAY THIRTY-ONE ANZAC Day. Before I went to bed last night I put posters in the car: 'Honour the dead by ending war' and told myself if I wake up I'll go up to the letterbox at 6am. So I'm not surprised to be

DAY THIRTY A clear sunny morning – we've been so lucky with the weather during this time. Each time it rains, the next day is all the more sparkling. It definitely helps keep up my spirits. A friend calls. Her husband is in hospital and she's worried

DAY TWENTY-EIGHT Wednesday 22nd April, just to get oriented. It's good to practice. My dear friend, dead some years now after a period of dementia, had the newspaper delivered daily and would note the day and date. Long after she was capable of caring for herself, when she

DAY TWENTY-SEVEN Well, I still have a pink gate. The second coat, vigorously stirred, came out much the same. Perhaps it's too cold now for outdoor painting. When the restrictions began it was late summer: T-shirts and sandals and swimming in the sea. Now, autumn has settled in

DAY TWENTY-SIX My day is neatly dovetailed between things I need to do and, unusually, scheduled events. As soon as it's warm enough I put on my painting gear and polyurethane the shed door, paint the back doorstep and the gate. Oddly, the doorstep dries the correct greyish

DAY TWENTY-FIVE Sunday in alternate reality. All the components are in place but in a slightly too shiny, too unpopulated way, like an episode of that excellent New Zealand drama This is not my life or The Truman Show. The button from the latter 'How does it end?'

DAY TWENTY-FOUR Saturday dawns with heavy rain and I'm off to a slow start, assuming that my plan to prepare the gate and shed door for painting won't be possible. But the sun comes out and eventually I'm out there with sandpaper and putty,

DAY TWENTY-THREE Friday again – where did the week go? I'm chatting on the phone to my sister when my friend appears with more wool and a fruit cake! How kind! We chat a while, at a distance and out in the sun, catching up on news of our